The Hard Way
by PikkuHiiri
Summary: He should have seen it coming. Things would have been much easier then. But when is it ever easy ? Seems they always have to learn things the hard way.
1. Prologue

**Thanks to an awesome person who helped me with my spelling and grammar I can finall post my first ever Avenger story. There will be a lot of "Hurt/Comfort as well as suffering in this one.**

 **If you wanna see a particular suffering..leave a comment and I see what I can do ;) Thank you very much for reading!**

 **PROLOGUE**

He should have seen it coming.

Laying in the darkness of their bedroom, spooned up behind Steve, holding him tightly against his own body, Tony asked himself how it could have gotten that far. His fingers were entwined with Steve's, holding them through the occasional twitch that went through his arm and hand, continuously indicating the challenge his body faced as it tried to come down from the level of stress it had been functioning under for God knew how long.

 _I am fine, Tony, it's just the aftermath of a tough mission...nothing a hot shower won't cure._

A shiver ran through the larger man's body and Tony softly kissed Steve's shoulder in an attempt to offer some silent comfort to keep his lover asleep and finally relaxed. In the total darkness of their shared bedroom he couldn't see anything- and he didn't have to. By this point Steve's body spoke to him more than the super soldier had voluntarily done lately- when regarding the aspect of honesty.

Under the pile of blankets that covered them Tony was uncomfortably warm despite only wearing a pair of tight fitting boxers. Steve's back against his front though felt chilled and this was the reason he didn't dare to move an inch. At no cost did he want to wake him as he was too relieved to hear his steady breathing and could slowly feel his body relax in their embrace. Again, he wished Steve was just a bit more selfish, not over protective of anything but his own body and most of all Tony wished he would have seen the signs sooner and had taken action, before it had been almost too late.

 _It's ME who should worry about YOU, Tony. You took the beating when I should have been there for back up..._

He was torn between blaming himself for not noticing how far it had went already. He had the urge to rip whoever sent Steve on the last mission a new one and also to storm right into Fury's office to tell him to stop testing to see how far he could push Steve before even his serum upgraded body gave up on him. All these thoughts of revenge were only over the physical effects on Steve in the last week. When he thought about his boyfriend's emotional state right now, he simply wanted to use the repulsors of his armour to blow up whatever or whoever got in his way.

 _You hopefully know that you are getting away with it for the simple fact that you are still uprightand manipulating my brain with that smile I can't resist..._

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply before burying his face between the blanket and Steve's

shoulder. He needed to pay more attention to Steve's well-being, nag him more to be honest about how he was doing and not let him get away with that damn charming smile of his. Slowly exhaustion crept over him, making his eyelids heavy. He fought sleep for a moment again, focusing on Steve but his breathing remained even and deep, his hand had relaxed in Tony's and the muscles of his shoulders were soft with no indication of the constant tension he tried to work out of them just an hour before.

He would have whispered an apology into the darkness if he hadn't been too afraid to wake him. Instead he planted a last feather light kiss on his shoulder before giving in to sleep himself.


	2. Good Days, Bad Moments

**You are absolutely amazing! I want to say thank you for every Review, PM, Follow and Favourite! I really appreciate all your support.**

 **I will try to post every weekend- either Friday or Saturday.**

 **I am also working on a series of OneShots so if you want to request a short story, just leave me a PM with what you want and I will happily try my best to fullfil your request!**

 **And here we go:**

 **GOOD DAYS, BAD MOMENTS**

Time off is a rare thing when you belong to a small group of super heroes. It didn't happen as often as any of them wished it would, and usually not even at the same time. For all of them, they never knew how long the peace lasted before some new kind of villain would surface and attempt world domination, blow up a national symbol, or to simply raise hell for the sake of gaining attention for their twisted ideas.

That was probably the exact reason why they enjoyed their timeouts together. In the beginning, none of them would have voluntarily admitted the fact that they had grown closer and slowly but surely, became something like a dysfunctional family.

Although they had not all been convinced that moving into Stark Tower was a good idea, none of them had any thoughts of regret. With the space the tower offered, they had every possibility to avoid each other If desired-and they preferred the big communal rooms over their own floors, in order to enjoy "family time" which mostly included meals together or movie nights.

"Sir, Mister Rogers is awaiting your presence in the kitchen with the rest of the Avengers."

Jarics' voice cut through the silence of the workshop. It was dimly lit the only light coming from the various holograms Tony was surrounded by, as well as the brightly illuminated surface of his work table. Dum-E gave a light squeal and extended his arm to poke Tony in his side when he didn't react right away. Tony remained unmoving, with his head resting in his hands, continuing to stare down at the sketches on the table before him.

For Tony, time off had always meant free hours to spend on what he was best at: developing new armour for the team, upgrading their equipment, adding new features to his own suit or doing consultant work for S.H.I.E.L.D. . In his mind the helicarrier, as well as the quinjets, needed a makeover-better yesterday than tomorrow. It was a routine he had a hard time breaking away from. He simply didn't realise how time passed when he was totally spacing out from the world around him; sinking deeper and deeper into his own universe of codes, sketches and whatever work he was inspired to do.

"Dum-E, what did I tell you about poking?", he asked, pushing around a few elements on the sketch. The bot tilted it's camera to the side like it was thinking hard, and trying to remember. Abruptly, Tony straightened up and scrambled off the chair he had been sitting on, coming to a halt in front of his bot.

"I really thought by now, you would've grasped the meaning of ' "Learning Bot' because that's what you're designed to be...What I, myself, designed you to be. So if you could show some effort in following your assignment, that'd be great,", he scolded him, like a child, and the bot gave a low noise groan in defeat. "I see you get my point. No poking! Even when Steve is demanding something...understood? Now, get out of my way!"

The bot rolled a few feet backwards to make way for it's creator. Tony quickly turned back to the table and a sudden idea rushed to his mind. he leaped forward to trash a good part of the holographic sketch and inserted a new part-what felt like brief adjustments to him took another twenty-five minutes.

"Tony, don't make me come down there to get you."

This time, Tony jumped at the sudden voice. His head shot up, his gaze fixating on the hologram of Steve JARVIS had projected next to the table.

"Steve! Are you trying to kill me!? Give a man some time to follow your orders, which are actually not even justified since we are not in a battle right now, and this place belongs to me. So technically, you can't order me around here…," Tony trailed off.

"You've had thirty minutes And it wasn't an 'order', but a request-to join us for early dinner. You've been down there all day again. Your food is getting cold. Show some appreciation when one of us cooks," Steve reprimanded.

Tony sighed and pushed away from the work table. "Okay okay...on my way...make sure to have some coffee on hand."

"Make it here within the next five minutes and consider it a deal," he said before thanking JARVIS for the connection. His hologram disappeared and Tony let out a huff.

"Thank you JARVIS, for interrupting my work with an unannounced transmission...again."

"Your well-being is my highest concern, as well as Mister Roger's. Since your last nutritious meal had been more than nine hours ago, I assumed…," Jarvis' electronic, British-accented voice explained before he too, trailed off.

"Don't ever assume… It usually doesn't end well."

"Sir, may I inform you that the five minute time span is running out."

"Traitor!"

Tony took the direct way upstairs; he knew he could probably get coffee even if he were to arrive after the five minutes had run out. Hell, he didn't really have to follow the dinner invitation...not that Steve would actually do anything to him if he didn't. The problem was totally different- he simply couldn't resist Steve.

In some way, it was pathetic (at least that's what Tony would have called it). He had refused to listen to Pepper whenever she had tried to convince him to change his lifestyle to a healthier one, but with Steve it was different. In the seven months of their relationship, the super soldier had found a way to coax Tony to follow his words by simply using a special tone or giving him one of his stern looks: a disapproving glare or simply (and that was the cruelest thing to do) one of his smiles that Tony couldn't resist by any means. Also, those eyes...

The elevator doors opened after a 'bing' and he heard the team's laughter echo through the open space between the elevator and the kitchen. As he approached the group he saw Thor flinging his arms around in wild gestures while he told the rest about his latest adventures on Asgard, where he had returned from just the day before. He stopped when he saw the engineer coming for them. "Nice to get you to join us, brother Anthony," he greeted, making Tony wonder whether this man was ever in a bad mood.

When he sat down on the only free chair, Clint took an exaggerated look at his watch. "Seven minutes...I am impressed. Seems the good captain gets to order you around off the battlefields as well," he said, with a huge grin on his face.

His snarky comment earned him a stern look from Coulson, who sat across from him. When he caught it, he immediately lowered his head and went on eating, a grin still plastered on his face. How the Agent could put up with the immature archer was beyond Tony, but who was he to judge? No one had given him and Steve a chance either when they had first hooked up. There had been bets set on how long Steve would tolerate Tony's obnoxious personality.

"You skipped lunch again," Steve said simply, when he placed a plate in front of him before sitting down opposite of his lover. It wasn't a stern tone, just his usual casual speaking, but Tony got it. Steve hadn't been in the tower since late that morning, giving Tony no reason to be anywhere but in his workshop. Knowing his boyfriend, he had probably asked JARVIS about his day the second he had entered the private part of the tower. He needed to have a word with his AI about providing such info.

"Got a bit carried away. The quinjets needed some tweaking and most parts of the helicarrier are outdated as well. They probably haven't done much maintenance work on those metal wrecks since S.H.I.E.L.D started their questionable work. No wonder the jets crash that often," he rambled, still totally caught up in his work and design ideas.

"I hope you understand that, apart from the Avengers, who have managed to crash land every quinjet ever left to their use, those jets are very reliable and appreciated among the agents," Coulson calmly said, causing Tony to put his fork down again. He opened his mouth to throw out a smartass comment, but Steve was faster.

"Tony," he said, in that tone that immediately got his boyfriend's attention. Their eyes met across the counter. "Dinner! Leave your genius ideas in the workshop for now and eat, please."

Natasha laughed, and exchanged looks with Bruce who, as usual, was a silent witness to their teasing and debating. They both spared themselves a comment and finished their plates while Thor went back to his report about a fight with some Asgardian kind of elephant-tiger crossover, that none of them would be eager to meet, judging by their faces.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked, after they had cleared away the plates. The others had strolled off towards the big movie room that was basically a mini theatre. According to Clint, he had to use the time to show Thor 'milestones of cinematic history'. His definition of that was ridiculous to the engineer. Tony, in his usual manner, had planned to return to the workshop to focus on finishing his projects. Now, he looked down at his arm that Steve was holding by the wrist. He sighed, and turned looking at Steve.

"I intend to finish the sketches for the helicarrier."

"I think you've done enough today."

"It's not finished yet, so technically, I haven't."

Steve let go of his wrist and took a deep breath. Tony had already braced himself, expecting Steve to give him a lecture about working too much, not eating enough and only getting the minimum amount of sleep. In his mind, he started to work out arguments to convince him that he was doing just fine, and working made him happy, and how his mind couldn't handle any downtime. But the lecture never came.

"You should turn the lights on. Don't work in the dark."

Stunned at the sudden change of mind in the Captain, Tony only arched an eyebrow in response. That was it? No more trying to keep him upstairs, or convincing him to join the others for a movie?

"Your eyes are red, Tony. I can tell the difference between you being tired or straining your eyes too much by working in the dark down there. Besides, I know you had quite a lot of sleep last night...measured by your standards anyway."

"Oh you do, do you? Wonder where you got that info from, Cap?" he grinned, remembering a very long and highly enjoyable make out session topped with awesome sex, before a long shower and falling asleep beside each other.

Steve gave him a brief grin before stepping closer. He placed one hand on Tony's hip, his thumb slowly moving over one of his most sensitive spots right above the waistband of his jeans, and leaned in and kissed him. A shiver went through Tonys body as Steve's lips touched another highly sensitive spot on the side of his neck, close to his ear. His skin prickled from the touches, and warmth crept through his chest, spreading throughout his entire body. Right when he was ready to give in to his boyfriend, the touch was gone. Irritated, he looked at the super soldier in front of him.

"What? You playing dirty on me now? You had my attention before, no need to..."

"You were distracted," Steve stated. "I only worry about you and you hardly listen when I tell you anything. For a genius, you can be very slow in understanding sometimes, so I am saying it easy and straight for you this time: Stay with me for now. "Judging by the rising number of occurrences that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tracking,", I don't know how much time we have together these days."

Silence. Two seconds passed, then three, four...Their eyes locked, nothing but honesty in Steve's, confusion, surprise and realisation in Tony's.

"JARVIS, save everything I've worked on and shut down the workshop for tonight. Make sure Dum-E doesn't try to clean again. I am finished for tonight," he commanded, without taking his eyes off his lover in front of him, or bothering to listen to the AI's confirmation.

It was like he snapped out of a trance when he took Steve's hand and turned around. Gently, but not giving in to any protest he pulled him towards the elevator, and pressed the button for the penthouse. He had to accept their time together could get interrupted by an incoming call any minute. He was not ready to spend the little time he and Steve had together with the others. He wanted Steve to himself.

Bright light blinded them in the penthouse. Outside, it was another cold but beautiful winter day. The sun shone straight into the wide living room.

"JARVIS, close the blinds. Half of the light is enough."

"Yes, Sir."

"Actually...leave them open," Steve interrupted, as the noise of the closing blinds started to hum through the air. He answered the questioning look from Tony with a simple, "I like the sun."

"Sir, do you want me to-"

"Leave them open, but dim the glass."

"As you wish, Sir."

A short while later, they were comfortably sitting on the sofa, closest to the glass window, two steaming mugs resting on the low table before them. Steve was obviously enjoying the day's last rays of sun on his skin with closed eyes. He leaned against Tony's chest. Propped into the corner of the sofa, the genius had one leg up leaned against the backrest, and the other over the edge with the foot still on the floor, his lover between his legs. His arm was draped over Steve's chest, who had relaxed into the loose hug, his hand held onto Tony his fingers losely closed around his wrist. He acted like he was afraid of his boyfriend leaving him any second.

It was strange. Not that Steve usually didn't like physical contact, but this was odd, even for him. Tony accepted it and leaned his head back. While Steve seemed to enjoy the silence, the engineer behind him was going crazy. Sitting down and doing nothing productive was something he was hardly able to do. Being with his lover...sure, it was great, since he knew he was safe and he was relaxing, but every passing minute was testing his patience. When Steve moved deeper into his embrace, his grip on Tony's wrist tightened and he took a deep breath, breaking the silence between them.

"Is everything okay?" Tony questioned.

"Hmm...why do you ask?"

Typical Steve. Whenever he got asked that question, an honest answer had to be coaxed out of him.

"Not that I mind but...you are very cuddly today, and you are holding my wrist like a vice."

Immediately, Steve let go and turned to look at Tony, his eyes wide.

"Did I hurt you? I am sorry, I didn't intend to."

"Woah woah…calm down. You didn't hurt me. Just want to know what's going on with you."

Steve lowered his eyes to the floor and shrugged.

"Nothing, I didn't realise I did it. Got a bit carried away, I guess."

He looked miserable at that second, making Tony's heart ache for him. Carried away in his case, usually meant memories...bad memories, that he would have loved to be able to take away from him. He hardly talked about it, usually when it was already too late, and his memories came crashing over him in the form of a nightmare or flashbacks.

He closed his hands into tight fists, tension spreading through his arms visibly, and Tony couldn't watch it anymore. He reached out and closed his hands around Steve's larger ones and ran a thumb over his knuckles.

"Relax, I am here. Not going anywhere," he said, in a low voice.

Steve took a deep breath and unclenched his fists slowly, flexing his fingers several times before the tension left him. He let himself fall back against the sofa and leaned his head back, with his eyes closed. He swallowed dryly, turning his hand around to entwine his fingers with Tony's. His behaviour was testing the genius' patience but Tony knew better than to push the issue.

He gently pulled his hand over and Steve followed without protest, taking his previous position again. When his head came to rest on Tony's chest, right over his heart and next to the arc reactor, he gave a content sigh. With the steady thumping sound of his lover's heart echoing in his ear, he raised his hand and placed it on the reactor, knowing he was the only person Tony allowed to do that.

He felt gentle hands run through his hair and down to his neck. With a audible exhale, he gave in, allowing himself to give control to Tony, who accepted the fact that he didn't want to talk at that point. He truly understood, and right at that moment, Steve greatly appreciated the silence-the only sound was his lover's heartbeat and the quiet hum of the arc reactor in his sensitive ears.

If Tony had known what was to follow, he would have forced Steve into talking right that second.

 **So..tell me what you think. Depending on your feedback I could also post the next chapter earlier ;)**  
 **Happy Weekend !**


	3. Love and War

Thank you all sooooo much! Every follower, favourite and most of all the reviews made me really happy! Sorry I left you waiting, but I've been on holiday for the first time after 4years of nothing but working. First of all:

 **strongalphapup0909** : I love them together as well and also like to torture them a bit- but to spoil and comfort them afterwards is just as great ;) Thanks for your support

 **Laura Messer** : Thanks AGAIN for a review! Phil and Clint.. they are the couple I love to play around with most. I think Coulson is an awesome person, I loved him in all movies and I think he is the perfect match for Clint- helping him to get over his past. Sorry for making you wait so long ;)

 **whirlwind29** : Thank you for your comment. Chapter took a bit, but here it is.

 ** _Chapter II_**

The next morning came far too soon.

After the episode in the loft, they hadn't talked much. Later in bed, when cuddling up together, Tony had made sure to tell Steve that in any kind of distress, whether it be nightmares or just bad memories, he could always wake him up. Grateful, Steve had kissed him before drifting off. He had been haunted by dreams all night, but none of them severe enough to wake him or Tony.

The sun was just about to rise when Steve tried to leave the bathroom without making any noise. He was relieved Tony hadn't woken up yet. Right when he had gotten the call, he had hurried inside the bathroom, speaking to the caller in a hushed voice behind the closed door, intending to give Tony more time to sleep. Gathering his clothes up, he was using the little bit of light coming from the bathroom to find his way around. When he had everything, he rounded the bed and leaned down, placing a feather light kiss on Tony's temple.

"Did you intend to sneak out and not tell me goodbye before you leave?"

Steve sighed when he heard Tony's comment, and sat down next to his boyfriend, who had turned around, blinking his eyes open. He was quiet for a minute; he needed a moment to focus.

Steve looked up and asked, "How long have you been up?"

"The call came twelve minutes ago, right? So...twelve minutes. You're leaving, right? To where?"

"That's classified, Tony. I can't tell you, you know that," he said, his voice a mixture of apology and sorrow. He hated secrets between them, and knew how much Tony worried about him every time he left. Not that he would have told him, but Pepper had once explained to him how his lover had been freaking out during a three day mission without a word from him.

"You hardly had 36 hours off. Can't they handle anything alone? They have hundreds of agents, good people...why is it always one of us and most of all you?" Part of his attitude was coming from being woken up, but the other partwas his worry speaking, and Steve reached out to take his hand.

"I will be back as soon as possible, and get in touch with you whenever I can." He meant it, he always tried to call or at least text when he was away, needing some words from the genius to remain sane these days.

"I will hack the server if you don't."

"No you won't. Promise me not to do anything stupid while I am gone. And I mean anything, Tony. Working for days and living off of caffeine qualifies as stupid."

"Will do my best," he mumbled. In his words, that meant 'I can't promise anything.'

With that, he sat up and cupped Steve's cheek, placing a light kiss on his lips. For a moment, he leaned his forehead against Steve's and drowned in the silence and closeness. He hated it when Steve left. He didn't trust anybody with his life, not even a dozen soldiers or agents who usually joined him for back up. In his opinion, a thousand soldiers weren't enough.

"I have to go," Steve said quietly, breaking the silence. He kissed Tony again and got up, knowing he had to get going before this became even harder for him."Take care, Tony. I love you."

"Always do."

As the door closed behind the super soldier, the silence inside their shared bedroom became deafening. Tony fell back into the pillows and closed his eyes again, testing out whether he could go back to sleep. Quickly, he realised that his mind was racing, thoughts of what could happen to Captain America plaguing him. He rolled over and hugged Steve's pillow, inhaling his scent that still lingered in the textiles. Allowing himself a few moments, he then scooted to the edge of the bed and got up. He had to get his mind off the fact that Steve was out on a mission again.

"JARVIS, start the coffee. Strong."

"Sir, may I remind you of-"

"No you may NOT!" he snapped at the AI. "Start the coffee, pull open yesterday's sketches and I don't want any calls or messages delivered through, unless it's Steve. No debating, just do it."

"As you wish, Sir," the AI answered in a flat tone. Tony could not put up with his mother hen attitude right now. He needed to get a grip on himself in order to not freak out with memories of the state Steve had been in after previous missions. No, he wouldn't allow his thoughts to go that way.

The kitchen was still dark, except for the lights of the city falling in through the glassfront, providing just enough illumination for Tony to find his way. To his surprise, he found the faint scent of fresh coffee lingering in the air. The pot was still half full when he took one of the bigger cups and filled it until the brown liquid was almost spilling over the edge. Slowly, he lifted the cup to his mouth and took a long audible sip, almost burning his tongue. Whoever had made the coffee had been in the kitchen not long ago.

"Should have known it wouldn't take long until you came in."

The voice behind him startled Tony enough to make him jump. His heart racing, he hurried to put the coffee down and rushed over to the sink, turning on the water to run it over his hand that had been scalded. With a growl, he turned around, narrowing his eyes to make out the figure who was standing almost out of sight, leaning against the window.

"Jesus, Barton!" he exclaimed, and reached for a towel. "What the hell are you doing here at this unholy hour? Did it get cold in the vents?"

It wasn't fair of him and Tony knew it, but he blamed the current situation and the early morning hours for his reaction. He heard Clint take an audible breath when he turned to dry the outside of his coffee mug.

"If I didn't know we were in the same boat right now, I would give you a smart ass comment that you deserve," the archer retorted, and approached the genius' position to sit down on one of the stools by the isle. Tony needed a moment before it clicked and he understood what Clint was hinting at.

"Oh...Coulson got called in," he said, and took a seat himself. The other Avenger nodded and took a long pull from his own coffee. With both hands wrapped around the mug, he rested his forearms on the table, his eyes fixated on Tony even through the darkness.

"Yes. Obviously it's bad enough to need him and Captain America, but not bad enough to need all of us," he mumbled.

There couldn't have been a bigger difference in the way of dealing with a boyfriend on a mission than between Clint and Tony. While the engineer preferred to hide in his workshop to make the time pass, and push away the thoughts of various things that could happen to his lover, Clint showed his worryby needing to talk about it in order to remain sane. His fear for the older agent's safety was radiating off of him in waves.

"Or Fury has one of his 'I need professional, clean and silent work' moments," Tony spat, referring to one of the director's countless complaints about the Avengers causing too much damage and costing S.H.I.E.L.D. not only nerves, but horrendous amounts of money. God how he hated Steve being out there, only being backed up by people he barely knew- if at all. That Coulson was also there, only made it slightly better. He trusted the agent, knew that bringing everybody home safely was his highest priority, besides accomplishing the mission.

"I personally don't care for reasons. It's always the two of them, or even worse, only one of them surrounded by some soldiers who are untrained for special missions. Or, even worse, a handful of those young agents who-"

"Barton...I get it," Tony interrupted him. He knew it, their thoughts on it were the same, but it didn't mean he had to hear it again.

"Sorry…," Clint mumbled, sounding much younger than he actually was.

"Did he tell you anything about the where and what?" Tony asked.

"No, classified. Doesn't leave many options though. Hydra, terrorists, another drug or weapon raid..."

"I could hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. servers and find out at any time."

"Not sure I want to know. Doesn't matter what enemy lines he is behind, when either way, I can't be there."

"Could always fly us out with one of the suits...gives the name Hawkeye a new meaning," "Tony teased, glancing over at Clint as he waited for the chuckle he was searching for. When the other team member finally laughed, Tony smirked.".

"Thanks."

Tony just waved it off and downed another big gulp of coffee. Silence fell between them for a moment until Clint's phone buzzed. The light from the screen reflected onto his face, showing Tony just how tired the archer still looked. A small smile spread across his face.

"They are out together. Heading to somewhere in Europe. Not expected to be longer than three days," he announced.

Tony arched his brow in question. "Did Agent Coulson just give you classified information, Barton? Are you corrupting him?"

The younger man's smile grew wider and finally, he handed his phone to show Tony the received message.

"I don't need to see the love talk you exchange, Barton."

Another second passed, and Tony finally reached for the device, his eyes scanning over the words displayed.

Give me whatever info you are allowed to

Same old discussion again? Looking forward to come back. No place like home ;)

He read it again and then shook his head, and handed the device back. The archer laughed when the engineer had obviously gotten the basics of it.

"You sneaky bastards! Code writing? Seriously?"

"Hey after that mission in France, I am not taking chances anymore. You should be grateful to know that at least they can watch out for each other wherever they get sent to. No hacking needed, simple as that."

"Coulson...I am shocked!" Tony said, half smiling.

Their tension was winding down to a bearable level that they could both live with. Three days…that made 72 hours...4320 minutes...259.200 seconds that they needed to fill with some kind of activity, to get over the waiting and the worry.

Realising his coffee was already empty when he went to take another sip, the engineer got up and turned to refill his cup. When his mug was full once again, he walked over to the door, stopped there and waited.

"So...are you coming or what?" he asked.

"Uh...huh?" He didn't need to see the archer's face to understand that he didn't know what Tony was talking about.

"We have time to kill, may as well put it to good use. Got some new toys for you that need excessive testing."

"Hell yes!" Barton exclaimed, and the heavy landing of feet on the floor indicated he had jumped off the stool he had been sitting on. They loved to annoy, tease and mock each other most of the time. In moments like this though, it seemed they had a silent agreement that working together was the best way to handle things. Not that Tony would ever admit it, but by now, the archer was something like a little brother to him. The kind that you teased whenever possible, but protected in every required situation-like when he had decided jumping off a building was a good move.

"JARVIS?"

"Good Morning, Sir. How can I be of assistance this morning?"

"Protocol Playstore. Barton and I are coming down now."

"Do you wish for a backup server?"

"Private server for now. Video analysis and recording."

"Of course, Sir."

Again, Clint was speechless at the way Tony and his AI worked together. It seemed like there was a protocol for absolutely everything (knowing Tony there probably was) and the genius remembered all of them.. Grateful for the distraction, he allowed himself an amused smile.

Together, they headed down to the workshop where Tony picked up two rather big boxes, passing one to Clint whose fingers itched to open it. The engineer held him back with a knowing smile, telling him to get moving towards the shooting range.

The shrill sound of an alarm blared through the tower,the second Clint released another arrow. It caught him off guard, which caused him to miss the target he had been aiming at. An irritated grunt left his lips.

"Did you just miss, Barton?" Tony chuckled, the sound carrying over the alarm, and crossed his arms over his chest as he arched an eyebrow- a gesture he knew annoyed the hell out of the archer.

He ignored Clint's death glare and a cocky smile spread across his face. Rather than respond to Clint's animosity, he chose to address the house's AI instead.

"What's up this time, Jarvis?"

"A small number of what seems to be rather intelligent robots, just invaded a local research center for vaccination."

Clint gathered up the new bow and sprinted down the range to pick up the arrows he had shot earlier. When he came running back, Tony had already opened the door to the hallway and waited for the archer to catch up to him.

"Jarvis, status," Tony demanded, after signaling Clint to get his equipment. He headed upstairs to get into his suit; everyone else was probably already about to leave

"Eight floor building, laboratories on the third and seventh floor. Two civilians hurt, the police can't interfere since the robots seem to experience no damage from any kind of firearm."

"Any idea what they are aiming for?"

He took the elevator to the workshop floor and crossed the room in long strides while Jarvis provided him any information he had gathered so far. As he had expected, Thor, Bruce and Natasha were already out there. Their first priority was ensuring the civilians' safety and second, getting a better view of the situation.

As soon as he was in his suit and logged into their intercomm, the other Avengers adressed him for consultation on their next steps. For some reason, Tony was still not exactly comfortable being in the position of the leader when Steve wasn't around.

"Widow, what's your position?" he asked, making his way to the invaded building as fast as the suit allowed.

"Back entrance," came her voice. "It's locked, and the door itself seems sealed from the inside with no chance to open it from either side. Looking for another way in."

"Keep going! Hawkeye?"

"Top of opposite building. Can see movement inside. Most of the employees made it out by now. Looks like they are searching for something in particular. Most activity is on the seventh floor. There's construction on the east side, could easily make it up there."

He could almost hear the archer smile at the mention of a way to climb up the facade of the building. He knew Clint could surely do it, but in his position as their leader, he had to think of any possible danger. The archer climbing the building meant full exposure to any kind of sniper or whatever those robots had brought as backup. He was human for heaven's sake, and unlike other members of their team, wasn't wearing any kind of protective armour.

"I am coming your way and bringing you up to the top," he insisted.

"Are you kidding me, Iron Man? That building is not even the highest I've faced in my life. I can surely-" he started to say, until Tony cut him off.

"You can wait ten seconds, Barton. Hold your position!" he demanded, not giving him another chance to protest.

Following his plan, he and Clint landed on the other roof less than half a minute later, and immediatly started scanning the area for an entrance to the building. Fortunately, the emergency door wasn't locked, providing the archer a way inside.

"Stay low and report. I'll get Widow and Hammerman and we'll be right behind you."

When Clint disappeared inside, Tony saw him running down the metal staircase. He shook off the bad feeling that was forming in the pit of his stomach, and hurried to get off the roof.

In the security office, Bruce was scanning several screens at a time in attempt to provide as much information as possible to the other Avengers. One of the security cams zoomed in and he stared at the screen in disbelief. The agent next to him sucked in a breath before looking at Banner.

"Everybody listen, it's HYDRA. They are all over the building. The Bots were just a distraction. Everybody is a potential threat. Most activity on floor seven," said Bruce.

"Hawkeye's on eight, searching his way to the hot spot. Widow and Thor are-" Tony was cut short when several blows to his armour caught him off guard. He turned and found himself under fire from a drone that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Iron Man? What's happening up there?" Bruce asked in concern as he jumped up from his seat in the office to join them.

"Minor war toy on my ass," he answered. Flying loops and sharp curves, he tried to avoid letting the big calibers put more holes in his suit.

"Widow?" he asked, sending several thrusts from the repulsors towards the drone, but whoever was flying that thing knew their job.

"Kinda busy here," Natasha answered. She and Thor had ran right into a group of Bots in a back alley. While they weren't a big deal regarding their fighting skils, they posed a big problem construction wise. Her punches and kicks had almost no effect on the robots, so her main effort was to keep them at bay until the Thunder God helped her out by smashing the Bots, leaving nothing but a pile of metal and wires. It was at that moment, as she stood over one of the now useless artificial soldiers, that she saw the HYDRA emblem on the inside of its arm, close to the wrist.

"Hawkeye? Your position?" she questioned.

"Vents. Floor seven. Where did all these bastards come from? I count at least two dozen," came his low answer.

Tony looked around the streets below him and took a sharp turn around the next corner, swearing under his breath-right below him, was a row of trucks. The back doors of one had just opened, releasing another small army of Bots. This time, they were heavily armed.

"Widow, Thor, I need you two blocks over ASAP. Bruce...now would be the right time to let the big guy jump in."

Banner's answer was swallowed by a series of explosions. The glass of the windows on one corner of the building shattered, the shards spraying everywhere, and Clint could be heard over the intercomm, coughing and swearing.

"They opened...the lab on...floor seven…," he rasped out. "Ceiling came down with the ...explosion."

"Hawkeye, get out of there!"

"Copy that," the archer replied, his voice raspy.

When the sound of a window crashing open reached Tony's ears a few seconds later, he wondered what part of his words had sounded like a 'jump out of the nearest window" to the archer.

He'd been busy scanning their surroundings when he'd caught sight of Clint falling from the window on the seventh floor, smoke spilling out of it behind him, in the last possible second. Using all power in his thrusters, he shot forward, turning in mid-air to catch Clint, not more than four feet above the ground.

Not able to turn down the power of his suit fast enough, he concentrated on damage control and turned before colliding with the next building, the impact hard enough to force the air out of his lungs. Hitting it back-first, he was able to at least shield Clint from the impact. Somehow, he managed to turn over before falling down through the air, hitting the street with his shoulder and side. The lights of the display before his eyes flickered, from all the damage it had sustained in only a few minutes.

Tony groaned and opened his arms, rolling onto his back and releasing Clint from his grasp. He opened the faceplate and sucked in a deep breath. His vision was blurry, and the suit had a few good dents in it, as he felt parts of it digging into his back every time he tried to breath deeply. He turned his head, bruised muscles screaming in protest. In the distance, he heard another explosion. Probably Natasha and Thor taking care of the Bot-infested trucks.

Next to him, Clint was on his hands and knees, coughing roughly with his head hanging low in an effort to take deep breaths. He held his right arm pressed against his torso, causing Tony to wonder whether he had hurt his arm or maybe his ribs. Ignoring his own bruises, he got up and hobbled over to his comrade, kneeling down and touching the other man's shoulder in a quiet question.

Clint looked up and Tony finally saw the gash on the archer's forehead that was bleeding heavily. Clint's face was pale, and his lips were almost colourless. His eyes darted back and forth, before he managed to focus on the older man.

"Catching you is starting to get boring, Barton. Why not find another way to entertain us?" Tony said jokingly, and he was forced to lunge forward, as the archer's eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

 ***runs and hides after pointing at the review button***


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